Monday, August 03, 2015

Let’s consider further the command Jesus gave in Matthew 7:12, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” We noted in our last visit that Jesus emphasized this was to be our modus operandi “in everything!” Then He pointed out the order in which we were to do this. It was the evangelist Billy Sunday who once said, “Do unto others what you would have them do to you, ONLY DO IT FIRST!” We are to initiate before receiving. Our actions toward others should not be based on what they have done to us. There is nothing implicitly wrong with reciprocating in kind. But Jesus said earlier in this sermon, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” No, we are called to be altruistic, even toward our enemies. Jesus said, “”Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43-48). Jesus did this when He was dying on the cross. Stephen, the first martyr, “While they were stoning him…prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (Acts 7:59-60). The golden rule is not a pious platitude. It is a nitty-gritty immersion into the hard knocks of life, where you bring a little bit of heavenly light into the darkness many are living in.